Since 1995, the National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT), acting as the agent for the Associations and Societies involved in the Multi-Association Industry Affordability Task Force, has sought to recognize an individual and small working groups/teams in the defense manufacturing community for making outstanding contributions to furthering manufacturing science and technology in the United States for the past fiscal year (Oct 2010 – Sep 2011). Through the Industry Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award, these Associations and Professional Societies acknowledge and recognize contributions of those scientists, designers, engineers, and/or managers involved in defense manufacturing who have sought to:
- Conduct research into ways and means to increase the producibility, affordability, or technical superiority of the nation’s defense systems and/or
- Develop or practice ways and means to increase the producibility, affordability, or technical superiority of the nation’s defense systems.
Associations and Societies solicits nominations for the Award from its members and then forwards the nominations to NCAT. Companies may also submit nominations directly to the NCAT award coordinator. Each year, a lead Association or Society acts as the main sponsor for the Award, which is also endorsed by all the other Associations and Societies affiliated with the Multi-Association Industry Affordability Task Force (the logos of all the affiliated societies ands associations appear on the Award plaque). The President of the lead association presents the Award at the Annual Defense Manufacturing Conference, scheduled for Nov 28-30, 2011, with high-level Industry and Government officials in attendance. For the year 2011 the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is leading the Award, which will be made in the name of all of the affiliated Associations and Societies.
Since 1999 awards have been made in two categories: Individual and Small Team/Group. Since 2002 we have awarded in three categories: Individual, Small Team/Group (Large Business), and Small Team/Group (Small Business). These three categories shall continue to be used for the 2010 awards. Note: Small business is defined as a firm with less than 500 total employees.
Award Eligibility
The award is open to all. Nominees (as many as desired) may be submitted by all the affiliated Associations/Societies of the Multi-Association Industry Affordability Task Force in any or all of the three award categories: individual, small team/group (large business), and small team/group (small business). Although companies are strongly encouraged to (and usually do) submit nominations through one of the Associations, occasionally nominations from one of the companies represented on the Multi-Association Industry Affordability Task Force will be sent to NCAT directly. These are considered valid nominations, but will be attributed to the most applicable association to be considered for the award. Each Association is limited to three nominations in each of the three categories, and each association is responsible for submitting at least one nomination, including all categories.
Note: Joint Industry/Government teams are eligible. There are no restrictions on who can be nominated for the Individual award category—both Government and Industry individuals have won this award, often with a record of service in both regimes.
The nominees must be living at the time of their nomination. Any individual or small group/team in the defense manufacturing community that has significantly contributed to the understanding, development, or application of manufacturing techniques, processes, methods, practices, or management throughout the nation is eligible for this award.
- Individual category nominations may be either for (1) a specific achievement in defense manufacturing which culminated during the past year or (2) a sustained record of performance and distinguished contributions in the defense manufacturing arena over a longer period.
- Small team/group from large (over 500 employees) companies should be for a specific achievement in the field of defense manufacturing which culminated during the past year. Award is limited to 10 team members.
- Small team/group from small business (less that 500 employees) companies should be for a specific achievement in the field of defense manufacturing which culminated during the past year. The small business should have performed the majority of the work. Award is limited to 10 team members.
2011 Nominating and Award Selection Procedure
Nominations should be provided electronically and include the following information:
- Nominator’s name, mailing address, and electronic communications contact information (phone, fax, and e-mail)
- Nominator’s title and organization/affiliation (company or association)
- Nominee’s name and title, institutional or company affiliation, and address. For team categories please include the name of the project here.
- Category: Specify whether the nomination is for the individual or one of the small team/group categories (large or small business). If for the team/group categories, all of the members’ names should be included as nominees (exactly as they would appear in the Award Program, should the team/group be selected).
- A summary of the action(s): the basis for the nomination (approximately 100-150 words). This will form the basis for the “citation” to be published in the Award program distributed at the presentation ceremony should the nominee win. Hint: It also “grabs” the attention of the members of the Award Committee who will be evaluating the nomination.
- A separate longer statement, not to exceed three, single spaced pages (12 point “Times New Roman” or similar font preferred), with one inch margins. This will form the basis for the comparative evaluation by the Award Committee of the award nominees and selection of the award recipient(s). Nomination details should include:
- Technical/managerial challenges overcome
- Significance of the accomplishment
- Financial or technical performance benefits (should be as specific as possible, without the use of any proprietary data. In needed, use normalized data.)
- Potential for solution to be subsequently applied beyond the original applications.
- A resume of the nominee or a brief biography for each nominee. In the case of the team award (optional), a brief description for each of the team members and a biography/resume for the team leader(s) are appropriate.
Completed nominations should be submitted to the Awards Coordinator, The National Center for Advanced Technologies, e-mail mark.gordon@ncat.com, phone 813-899-4545, Fax 813-425-7774. Questions regarding nomination procedures or other matters may also be addressed using this contact information.
The deadline for award nomination submissions is COB, Friday, October 28, 2011. All nominating materials become the property of NCAT.
As mentioned, for 2011 the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is the lead association for the award selection process and will sponsor the award presentation at DMC. Ms. Rebecca Taylor will chair the 2011 Industry Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award Selection Committee. Past lead associations/societies have included: NSIA (1995), AIA (1996, 2000, 2010), GEIA (1997, 2005), AMT (1998, 2007), AFCEA (1999), SME (2001, 2008), NACFAM (2002, 2009), NDIA (2003), and NCMS (2004).
Award Nomination and Selection Process
NCAT forms the Award Selection Committee each year from representatives of the affiliated Associations and Societies. The Associations and Societies solicit nominees from their member companies and then forward their nominations to NCAT by the Nomination due date. NCAT in turn consolidates and forwards copies of each of the nomination packages to each member of the Award Selection Committee. The members of the Award Committee then individually evaluate and rank order all of the nominees in each of the three award categories and forward their three sets of rank orders to NCAT. NCAT then tallies the votes. In each of the three categories the entry with the most first-place votes is the winner. If there is a tie for number of first place votes, it will be resolved using the rank ordering (number of second place votes; if that does not resolve the tie, number of third place votes, etc.). The Committee then meets, usually in mid November, to ratify the NCAT tally (one ratification vote per Association/Society present) and approve the selection of the winner(s) in the three categories of the Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award.
Award Ceremony
The Awards will be presented at the Defense Manufacturing Conference (Las Vegas, Nov 28-Dec 1, 2011) The recipients of the Award(s) will be notified in advance so they can arrange to attend the awards presentation ceremony at the Defense Manufacturing Conference and receive their awards in person if they desire. Also, the winners usually will be asked to provide a picture of the winning individual/groups for inclusion in the Awards Program. Note: All award recipients have in fact chosen to receive their awards in person, although sometimes not all members of the winning team have been able to attend.
NCAT Role
The National Centerfor Advanced Technologies supports the entire process including solicitation of members for the Award Selection Committee, processing the nominations and tallying the votes, putting together the Award Program, and orchestrating the Award presentation ceremony. NCAT also hosts the ratification meeting of the Award Selection Committee (usually a luncheon meeting) and any necessary teleconferences during the nomination/selection process.
